November Recap

I'm going to make this quick (quick for me) because my Christmas present to myself is to get every half written post finished before the new year. And there is at least one that dates from 2007, so I am just going to post at random and then put things where they go at a later date. I'm hoping that this spring cleaning will engender the same feeling of freedom that getting a file cabinet did for me. Which I just got this month and have been wanting for years. Don't ask me why it took me this long to spend $31 at Walmart to forever change my life but it did. Previously I had a plastic file box - which is sufficient for to keep the paperwork of one person but not a family of four. If you don't have one go get one. I had paper piles everywhere, under coffee tables, in drawers, in folders, bags etc. but now, mostly, it all has a place.

So back to November. (And don't forget, get a file cabinet) Ben and I officially became old this month, which we realized as we stood outside the door of our daughters kindergarten class waiting for our first parent-teacher conference. It just gives me the chills to recount that moment. And not in a good way. For 30 minutes we had to listen to a grown-up talk to us as if we were grown-ups. Weird. I hope we did okay.

Like I mentioned before, Miles quit soccer. When we are at home he talks about soccer like he loves it. But the last time we went it was starting to get colder and dark and I told him if he kicked the ball once we could go home. Which he did. And I haven't made him go back. $30 down the drain...I could have bought another file cabinet with that.

After spending the previous month undoing our garden I spent November planting. There are now 200 tulip bulbs that I am just daring some squirrel to try to dig up and eat in my yard. Bulbs are not the easiest thing to plant, especially in rocky soil that only gets rockier the further down you go. So we'll see if it's worth it come spring. I also added 4 blueberry and 6 raspberry bushes to the yard as well. I wonder how many years it will take them to produce.

This month I also got a new windshield courtesy of Volkswagen. I had to go in to get new key fobs. Avery took one swimming about three years ago and the other one finally gave out on me as well. I used the valet key for a couple weeks but that got old quick and since my mom was going to be nice enough to watch my kids for a week I knew I couldn't subject her to any more torture. So I went to the dealer and quickly figured out that I might be able to get away with only buying two half keys since only the transponder was shot. So instead of getting only one full key for $170 plus $50 "reset" fee which I was planning on doing I got two for the same price. And they glued my keys back together so I wouldn't have to have packaging tape on them. Now I wish someone would do the same for my camera. While I was there they suggested I get a new headlight and new wiper blades - both of which I knew I needed. The headlight would run a ridiculous $75, which I got later at the VW shop I usually go to for $11 - including labor. But the wipers seemed a fair price and he said they fit the curve of a VW window. It immediately started to rain so I got to test them out. It did fit it except that on one side it kept streaking like it had before. A week later I went back and showed this to the guy and while I was showing I noticed faint scratches where the streaking was occurring. It turned out o be an installation issue. He said he would try to use a clay bar to get it out. It didn't work so on the spot he offered me a new windshield. So I got one. Just like you don't realize how bad your eyes have gotten until you get new contacts or glasses, you don't realize how bad your windshield is until you get a new one. Obviously I knew that I had two rock chips, one that had been there for years and the other a few weeks. But I don't think I realized how the years and roadtrips had marred the glass in general. For a couple days I thought I was driving without a windshield it was so clear. And it was free!

In other lucky news, a few months back I had won a $100 gift certificate to a home furnishings store we like. We finally went to redeem it. Ben wanted a reading chair for our bedroom. We found a brown leather club chair we both liked which was half off from $600 but when we brought it home it was too big for the space so we were going to have to return it - never mind that the receipt said no returns for sale items and a restocking fee for all other purchases over $100. Ben called and they said they would give us store credit. He loaded it back up and came home with good news - not only had they credited our card back they also credited the $100 gift certificate to our card and no restocking fee. Very Nordstromesque of them. So - get a file cabinet and shop at Moe's!

Even though this is not quick like I promised, I have squeezed like four posts into this one so because it's informative and could benefit someone else I'm going to recount another car story - this one not so lucky. So one day my car wouldn't start. It would turn over and almost catch but not quite. At first I had thought one of the kids left a light on and strained the battery but after letting it rest for a while it still wasn't working. So the next day we had it towed to the shop and waited for the verdict. It turns out that the spark plugs were saturated with fuel. So they cleaned them off and popped them back in, no other repairs needed. First of all I also love these guys - Too Quicks German Auto - If you have a VW and don't want to get ripped off go there. (If you're in Maryland go to Auto Centro and in Hawaii go to Tai VW and if you're in Dayton Ohio let me know and I'll look up the name of the shop there). Okay, enough with the endorsements, I swear I don't get paid for these. So how could this strange thing happen? The day before Ben had moved my car just a few feet so he could blow pine needles out from under it. Then he quickly moved it back a few minutes later. The quick start stopping apparently had something to do with the spark plugs getting gooped. So next time your car won't start it might not be the battery or the starter or the alternator (the dealer probably would have told me to replace all three). The spark plugs might just need a good cleaning.